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MEMOEIAL ADDRESSES 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



EDWARD YOUNG PARSONS, 

(A REPRESENTATIVE FROM KENTUCKY,) 



DELIVERED IN THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND IN THE SENATE 

August 1, 1870. 



PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF CONGRESS. 



^.s 



Forty-fourth Congress, Second Session. 



WASHINGTON : 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1878. 






AUG 6 1908 

D.orO. 



JOINT RESOLUTION authorizing the printing and distribution of the memorial 
addresses on the life and character of the late Edward Young Parsons, a Rep- 
resentative from the State of Kentucky. 

Be it resolved by the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That four thousand five hundred copies of the me- 
morial addresses on the life and character of the late Edward Young Parsons, a 
Representative from the State of Kentucky, be printed, one thousand copies for the 
the use of the Senate and three thousand five hundred copies for the use of tlie House 
of Kepresentatives ; and that the Secretary of the Treasury have printed a steel- 
engraving of Mr. Parsons, to accompany the same, to defray the costs of which, the 
sura of six hundred dollars be and the same is hereby appropriated, out of any 
moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 

Approved February 18, 1878. 



ADDRESSES 



DEATH OF EDWARD YOUNG PARSONS. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE. 



Satcjeday, July 8, 1876. 

Mr. KNOTT. I rise to perform the most melancholy duty that 
has ever devolved upon me in the course of my public life: to an- 
nounce to this House the sudden and unexpected death of my col- 
leao-ue. Hon. Edward Y. Parsons. I move the adoption of the 
resolutions which I send to the Clerk. 

The Clerk reads as follows : 

Resolved, That a committee of seven members be appointed by the Speaker of 
the House to take order for superintending the funeral of Hon. Ed-ward Y. Par- 
sons, late a member of this body from the State of Kentucky. 

Resolved, That as a mark of the respect entertained by the House for the mem- 
ory of Hon. Edward Y. Parsons his remains be removed to Louisville, Kentucky, 
in charge of the Sergeantrat-Arms and attended by the said committee, who shall 
have fall power to carry this resolution into effect. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these proceedings to the Senate. 

Resolved, That as an additional mark of respect to the memory of the deceased 
the House do now adjourn. 

The resolutions were unanimously adopted. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore announced that in pursuance of the 
first resolution he had appointed the following committee, viz: 
Mr. Blackburn, Mr. Hopkins, Mr. White, Mr. Gilbert C. 



ADDRESS OF IfR. BOONE ON THE 



Walker, Mr. Fort, Mr. Lawrence, and Mr. John B. Clarke. 
And then, in accordance with the concluding resolution, the House 
adjourned. 



Tuesday, August 1, 1876. 
The hour of four o'clock p. m. having arrived, the House, under 
ite previous order, proceeded to pay the last honors to the memory 
of Mr. Edward Young Parsons, late a Representative from the 
State of Kentucky. 

Address of Mr. BOONE, of Kentucky. 

Mr. Speaker, I arise to perform a melancholy duty : to announce 
the death and pay a hmnble tribute of respect to the memory of my 
late colleague, Hon. Edward Y. Parsons, who departed this life 
at his residence in this city on the 8th day of July at about two 
o'clock p. m. Mr. Parsons was born in Jefferson County, Ken- 
tucky, on the 12th day of December, 1842, and was therefore in 
his thirty-fourth year when he died. He was the son of Rev. C. 
B. Parsons, who was widely known as one of the most eloquent 
pulpit speakers in the West. His father having moved to the city 
of Louisville while he was yet very young, Edward at an early age 
entered the public schools of that city and manifested a peculiar 
fondness for books, and generally stood at the head of his class. 

He afterward entered the male high school of the city, where he 
prosecuted his studies with diligence, and at the early age of nine- 
teen graduated with the highest honors. Shortly thereafter he be- 
came a professor in the school, which position he filled with great 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF EDWARD Y. PARSONS. 7 

credit for about three years; during which time he studied law, 
and in 1864 resigned his position in order to enter the law school 
of that city, which was one of the best in the country, having for 
its professors such men as Judges Pirtle, Muir, and Bullock. The 
regular course in this school was of two years' duration, but the 
deceased mastered it in one year, graduating with distinction. 

He entered the profession as a practicing attorney in 1865, and 
by his energy, talents, and superior attainments soon won for 
himself honorable distinction at the bar and drew around himself 
a large number of admirers and warm personal friends, who felt 
proud, and justly so, of the success of their young townsman; and 
permit me to say, Mr. Speaker, that it was no small matter for a 
young man in so short a time to rise to distinction at the Louisville 
bar, composed as it was then and is now of men of marked ability 
and profound legal learning. 

In 1874 Mr. Parsons was elected a member of the Forty-fourth 
Congress, by a very large majority, from a district where resided 
many able and distinguished men, which is an indication to us of 
the estimate placed upon him by the people among whom he had 
been reared and lived from childhood. 

Although a citizen of the same State, it was not my good fortune 
to enjoy an intimate acquaintance with him previous to the begin- 
ning of tliis session of Congress. It is true, I knew of him as one 
of the rising young men of my State ; but I had no opportunity to 
observe those peculiar traits of disposition and character which dis- 
tinguished him as a man of rare social qualities and marked him as 
a man of more than common ability. But upon a more intimate 
acquaintance mth him I found him to be all that his most intimate 
friends claimed for him — brave, generous, open-hearted, noble, a 
man of rare cultivation and refined sensibilities. He was a man of 



extensive reading and remarkable memoiy. He seemed to be as 
familiar with the poets and the polite literature of the age as most 
men are with the rudiments of a common education. He was a 
good lawyer and a vigorous and accurate thinker; in a word, Mr. 
Speaker, he was an accomplished gentleman. 

He entered this Hall at the beginning of this session of Congress 
full of life and hope, with far better prospects of long life than 
most of us. Young, buoyant, of powerful frame and commanding 
presence, there seemed to be before him a long life of usefulness to 
his State and country ; and who that saw him then would have sup- 
posed that so soon we should be called upon to mourn his death? 
How well I remember the look of astonishment and almost of con- 
sternation that settled upon the countenances of the members of this 
body when the news reached us that he was dead. How anxiously 
the inquiry passed from one to another if it were not possible that 
there was some mistake. How unwilling we were to believe it true, 
and how sadly we all felt when we were forced to realize the truth 
of the solemn announcement. 

His death was sudden and unexpected. Almost without a note 
of warning he was stricken down, his large, generous heart ceased 
to beat, and his spirit ushered into the jjresence of that almighty 
and all-wise Being who hath the issues of life and death in His own 
hands. Almost in the twinkling of an eye the strong man was 
brought low, furnishing us another instance of the truth of the say- 
ing " In the midst of life we are in death." 

Mr. Speaker, perhaps silence would become me best in the pres- 
ence of so solemn an event, for nothing we can say can at all aflect 
the condition of the dead ; but may I be permitted to say that these 
notes of warning as they fall ever and anon upon our cars should 
not pass luiheeded by us? They are the palpable evidences of our 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF EDWARD V. PARSONS. U 

owu mortality ; they should remind us that we too must sooner or 
later jiass the portals of the grave; that we too are passing rapidly 
in the footsteps of hini whose memory Ave this day honor; and that 
ere the cycle of another moon you, sir, or I, or some other member 
of this body, may be called to pass the same solemn and dreadful 
ordeal through which two of our brother-members have been called 
to pass since we assembled here. 

Sir, in the presence of such realities how empty are all earthly 
honors, how hollow all earthly enjoyments, and how utterly insig- 
nificant all earthly ambitions! for, at a time when we least expect 
it, the darlc-wingcd messenger of death hovers over us and all our 
earthly hopes vanish as chaff before a driving wind. Truly hath it 
been said, "As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field 
so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it and it is gone, and 
the place thereof shall know it no more." 

Although Mr. Parsons died away from his home and among 
comparative strangers, everything that medical skill, the promptings 
of friendship, and the ties of a noble brotherhood could suggest were 
resorted to in order to arrest the arm of death and save him from 
the fatal blow. But, sir, the grim messenger would listen to no 
parley, would take no denial. The grief, the woe, the bruised heart, 
the crushed hopes of a stricken wife, the helplessness, the innocence, 
the unconscioas grief of children could not appease him. But amid 
them all the silver cord was loosed, the golden bowl was broken, 
the pitcher was broken at the fountain, the wheel was broken at the 
cistern, and the dust returned to the earth as it was ; and the spirit 
returned unto God who gave it. 

He leaves behind him a tender and affectionate wife and two 
small children, for whom our sympathies go out this day, and with 
them we mingle our tears of sorrow over the sad event which has 



10 ADDRESS OF MR. JONES ON THE 

deprived them of a husband aud father and us of a friend and 
brother. 

It would be wiser and better for us all, Mr. Speaker, to think 
more seriously than we do of the uncertainty of this life, and con- 
template more frequently the grandeur, the glory, and durability 
of that better and brighter existence which has been made pos- 
sible to us through the mercy of Him who ruleth both in heaven 
and in earth. 

I offer the following resolutions : 

Resolved, That this House has heard with deep regret of the death of Hon. 
Edward Y. Parsons, a member of this House fromi the State of Kentucky. 

Resolved, That as a testimony of respect to liis memory the officers and mem- 
bers of this House will wear the usual badge of mourning for the space of thirty 
days. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted by the Clerk of this 
House to the family of the deceased. 

Resolved, That the Clerk be directed to communicate a copy of these proceedings 
to the Senate, and that as a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased 
this House do now adjourn. 



Address of Mr. Jones, of Kentucky. 
Mr. Speaker, 

Pallida mors jequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas regumque turres. 

Death is so common in the land that we can but seldom if ever 
truly apply the lesson he would teach or give a passing thought 
how soon he may knock at our own door. He may in an instant 
blight the beauteous rosebud, wither the fairest flower of the garden, 
shiver the giant oak of the forest, tear away the venerable forms of 
our households, snatch from our embrace the tender idols of our 
hearts, or strike down at our very side splendid young manhood. 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF EmVARD Y. PARSONS. 1 1 

the highest image of God himself, and although we feel the shock, 
bow our heads, and look with awe and wonder, yet soon again, O ! 
how soon, does the world, with its duties, its pleasures, and its cares, 
absorb and lead us on in the same accustomed way ! But this in- 
evitable and dread visitor heeds not our ways nor respects our con- 
dition. In his quiver he has an arrow for all ; he strikes the low 
and the high, the bad and the good, the poor and the rich ; he calls 
at every habitation, from the lowly hovel m its poverty to the ma- 
jestic Capitol in its grandeur, and thus with impartial step and 
imerring aim marches on forever. In the hour of our grief and in 
the weakness of our nature, unmindful of the divine economy, 
which respects neither person nor condition, we cry out, O ! wliy, 
why could not the great God, the Giver of life and death, have 
spared my loved one as a merciful exception ? 

Man is ever taught the truth, but heeds it not, that life is death, 
creation is dissolution, and none ain tell how soon the latter may 
follow the former. How little do we remember that as we begin 
to live we begin to die. In the structure and economy of life every 
blow we strike, every thought we think, is accomjjauied by the 
death and disintegration of a certain amount of muscular and nerv- 
ous tissue as its necessary condition, and thus every action of our 
corporeal life from its beginning to its close takes place at the ex- 
pense of the vitality of a certain amount of organized matter ; and 
yet from the beginning of the life of man to this day of how little 
importance to his fello\\s is his death. 

Epictetus, the Phrygian philosopher, went forth one day and saw 
a woman weeping for her pitcher of earth that was broken, and he 
went forth the next day and saw a woman weeping for her son that 
was dead, and when he returned to his house he exclaimed, " Hcii 
widi fragilem, frangi, hodie vidi mortalem mori." Yesterday a vase 



12 ADDRESS OF MR. JONES ON THE 

was broken, to-day a man dies, and one may be of as little conse- 
quence as the other. The philosopher of Uz in his affliction ex- 
claimed : 

Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh 
forth like a flower, and Is cut down ; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. 

Again it is said : 

Man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets. 

Mr. Speaker, has one from our midst been suddenly removed ? 
Does death make no impression here, although his shaft has smitten 
us like the flash of the lightning? Is the pale monster to be re- 
garded with no more terror than one going to sleep, the vanishing 
of a cloud, the decay of a flower, the rolling up of a scroll, the 
folding of a tent, or the gentle approach of night? 

Sir, but a few days ago the stalwart and splendid form of Ken- 
tucky's young statesman walked and sat in this Hall almost the 
very perfection of manly vigor, grace, and elegance. Like Absalom, 
the praise of Israel, " from the sole of his foot even to the crown 
of his head there was no blemish in him." Methinks I see him 
now, sir, as was his wont to approach us with that stately mcin, 
open hand, rich voice, and frank cordiality which seemed to belong 
to him alone, which indeed dignified his race, and presented in him- 
self a brilliant type of the young manhood, courage, and gallantry 
of the noble State he represented. His morning salutation was to 
me, sir, a pleasure for the day. Others may not, but I do miss 
him. 

How sudden, Mr. Speaker, was his taking oflP. Wlien the news 
came and rang through this House we could not have been more 
appalled if a bolt from heaven at noon-day with the sun in his 
glory had rent asunder the dome of the Capitol. "VVlien but an 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF EDWARD Y. PARSONS. 13 

hour after I entered his chamber and laid my hand upon that 
majestic brow, pulseless and cold as marble, how truly was it mani- 
fest "In the midst of life we are in death." 

Mr. Speaker, what a transition ! Think of it. At twelve o'clock, 
high noon, this man stood in noble stature and perfect health, with 
every apparent promise of length of days and increasing honors, 
and at twelve o'clock at night he was dead, his body embalmed 
and on its way with congressional escort to his home for burial. 
Thus was our young brother stricken dovm and spirited away. 
Death indeed found in him "a shining mark." 

How vain and transitory is life in its highest aspect ; how futile 
man's ambition ; how apparently worthless all his labors ; how his 
brightest hopes are suddenly blasted ! Here was high intellectual 
endowment, cultivated in the best schools of learning, chastened 
and accomplished by classical lore from the great old masters, 
whom be loved to repeat and praise. Here was solid learning in 
jurisprudence and eminence already in professional reputation and 
honors. Here was political ability of rare merit, just developing 
into large and comprehensive statesmanship. Here was pure char- 
acter, admired and loved from birth to death. Here, too, if indeed 
it become eulogy, was a combination of personal Imeaments with a 
grand outline that attracted the gaze of every beholder ; a face as 
beautiful as the Apollo and a form that Phidias or Praxiteles would 
have chosen for a model. No prouder step ever graced the Avenue, 
no manlier person ever sat in the Capitol. All this vanished and 
gone, as it were, like the blaze of a meteor. Thus goes the glory 
of the world. 

O man ! 

Boast not thyself of to-morrow : for thou knowest not what a day may bring 
forth. 



14 ADDRESS OF ME. JONKS ON THE 

Mr. Speaker, when our friends die we are apt to inquire or con- 
jecture what were their last thoughts or expressions or how they 
received the final message. In what manner our young brother, 
so full of happiness and hope, welcomed the sudden and unexpected 
messenger we know not. Whether he had time to cast a look 
behind or a look beyond, we know not. It is said, sir, and it is a 
happy thought, that when man is about to be gathered to his people 
or go to his fathers visions of bright scenes and glorious companies 
gleam before his expiring gaze. Such happy close would have 
been in keeping with the life of our friend ; and let us think that 
if in that final moment he could have reached our ears he would 
have called to us : 

Saw ye not now a blessed troop 
Invite nie to a banquet, whose bright faces 
Cast thousand beams upon me lilie tlae sun? 

May we not trust that our loved companion so departed was so 
received, and is now seated in that glorious assembly in the realms 
of bliss? 

Mr. Speaker, death itself is not without its consolations. Ecclc- 
siastes taught that "a good name is better than precious ointment, 
and the day of death than the day of one's birth." Lord Bacon 
said : " Death hath this also, that it openeth the gate to good fame 
and extinguisheth envy." If a man die, shall he not live again ? 
Death is but the end of care, and opens the door to that better and 
true life where He presides who, greater than all, has pronounced 
the glorious promise to man, "I am the resurrection and the life." 

But, Mr. Speaker, my poor words arc vain. I bring no fitting 
eulogy; I claim no philosophy of life and death. I teach no moral 
from this sad bereavement. Every heart must draw its own lesson, 
and that is better felt than expressed. I only know that our valiant 



LIFE AND CHARACTEll OF EDWARD Y. PAP„SONS. 15 

young brother has gone from these Halls forever. Kentucky's 
budding promise, her blusliing pride under national honors, lias 
been returned to her in a casket for the grave. Her metropolis — 
tlie city of his home — has honored him with a funeral pageant 
becoming a king, and loving hands have laid him away in the lap 
of his mother earth. 

Mr. Speaker, Kentucky will cherish her distinguished dead, 
young and old, and ever honor those who lionor her. Though 
blessed in climate and soil, prolific and pre-eminent in the produc- 
tions of earth and animal, high advanced in the improvements and 
embellishments of civilized life, proud of all she possesses, yet, like 
the Roman mother, "her jewels are her sons." In coming time, 
when she shall build a pantheon to her great, the marble image of 
this younger son may perhaps be seen and admired like that of the 
beautiful young Augustus in the Vatican. Peace, peace, to his 
ashes ! consolation to his friends and loved ones ! gentle flowers 
for his tomb ; and may sweet memories ever linger around the name 
of Edward Young Parsons ! 

O beate Sexti, vltse Bumiua brevls spem nos vetat Inchoare longam. 



Address of Mr. Maish, of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Speaker, I first met Mr. Parsons on this floor shortly 
after the commencement of the present session of Congress. Our 
acquaintance rapidly grew into a firm and cordial friendship. In 
our brief association I learned to honor him for his virtues and 
respect him for his talents. 



16 ADDRESS OF MR. MAISH ON THE 

Nature had endowed him with superior mental facuUies, which 
had been carefully cultivated in youth, and he prescxved in man- 
hood the tastes he then acquired. He was a man of genuine cul- 
ture. Familiar with the best productions of the ancients, he loved 
to recall and dwell upon their beauties. He was especially fond of 
the German, and had read the master-pieces of that language. 
With the literatm-e of his own language his acquaintance was ex- 
tensive and intimate. It was apparent to those who knew him 
that he had read much and remembered what he had read. 

Furthermore, he possessed a voice remarkable for its depth and 
compass, improved by all the graces of elocution. Thus qualified, 
he had before him a future full of hope and promise. 

He was less than thirty-four years of age when he died ; and yet 
I venture to say that "in all the points in which personal merit can 
be viewed, — in science, in erudition, in taste, in honor, in generosity, 
in humanity, in every liberal sentiment and every liberal accom- 
plisliment," lie had few superiors in this body. 

He was naturally of a retirmg disposition, and seldom partici- 
pated in the debates of this Chamber. Indeed he did so only when 
impelled by the interests of his constituency or his unmediate duties 
as a member. lu this, as in other deliberative bodies, the position 
a member occupies in public estimation is not always the true 
measure of his worth or abilities. If he is not fortunate in being 
allotted to prominent committees, he must make his reputation 
without the adventitious aids they afford. The committees on 
which Mr. Parsons served did not invite newspaper reporters into 
their quiet retreat, nor did their labors receive much of the atten- 
tion of the House or the public, notwithstanding the duties of the 
members were arduous, important, and frequently involved much 
research and learning. 



LIFE AND CIIAKACTEK OF EDWARD Y. PARSONS. 17 

Mr. Parsons, in this capacity, prepared a number of reports. 
They give evidence of a high order of ability, and show, too, how 
faithfully and conscientiously he performed his quiet official duties. 
Doubtless he longed sometimes to enter the lists in the intellectual 
combats here witnessed. His young ambition no doubt aspired to 
court the ajiplaase that the public arena of the House afforded. His 
unobtrusive nature made him a cheerful observer of the triumplis 
of others. 

He was a man of Avarm impulses. His cordial manners and 
tender emotions constituted the most beautiful traits of his charac- 
ter. Envy found no place in hLs bosom. He had a word of good 
cheer for all, and, as I often observed, was among the first to lend 
the assuring hand and offer the encouraging word to his fellow- 
members. 

Those of us who sat nearest to him will not soon forget liis accus- 
tomed kindly greetings, his buoyant spirits, and harmless pleasant- 
ries. No longer will we see his manly presence, — that fine, honest 
face, nor hear that deep-toned voice of Edward Y. Parsons. 

In the turmoil of business here, amid party strife and passion, 
the nobler qualities of our associates are too often overlooked. 
When death invades our Chamber our minds are brought to 
serious meditation. Then only do we fully realize the inner vir- 
tues of those whose death arrests our deliberations. 

In Edward Y. Parsons Kentucky has lost an honest, able, 
and faithful Eepresentative and this House a valuable and efficient 
member. 

In conclusion, permit me to say, Mr. Speaker, that few members 
have been removed by death from a seat in this House who will be 
more kindly remembered or sincerely regretted than our departed 
brother. 



18 ADDRESS OF MR. LAWRENCE ON THE 



Address of Mr. Lawrence, of Ohio. 

Mr. Speaker, the demise of a citizen of the United States while 
holding the position of a Representative in Congress can rarely ever 
fail to furnish some food for reflection. The loss of a member who 
has rendered long and useful service may naturally attract the widest 
attention. But the loss of one whose talents, education, and real 
merits have won the confidence of a constituency at an early age, 
whose career in Congress has been brilliant and useful, though com- 
paratively brief, may be really greater than that of one whose 
" course is run." It is appointed unto all men once to die. He 
who has lived out his allotted time, who has finished his work, dies 
and disappoints no hopes. A life of usefulness finished finds its 
reward. Its purpose is complete. Its termination may indeed bring 
the pangs of sadness and sorrow. But sadder still it is when in the 
providence of God we are called to mourn the loss of one whose 
life in many respects has already accomplished much, but promising 
still more and more, is cut off in early manhood and in the midst 
of its usefulness. 

In proportion as the inclination and capacity of a citizen and his 
opportunities for usefulness are great, to that extent will his loss be 
largely felt. There is perhaps no country in the world where so 
many opportunities for usefulness are open for a cutizen to accom- 
jilish good among men as in this, the American Republic. Here is 
a land whose resources equal if they do not excel any other, and to 
a veiy large extent they await the hand of development and even 
of discovery. Here is a Government "of the people, by the people, 
and for the people." 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF EDWARD Y. PARSONS. 19 



Here is a Republic which invites to participation in its aflairs 
tlie talents and usefulness of every citizen whom the people may 
select to represent them or who may be selected in pursuance of 
law. This combination of material resources and political advant- 
ages, offering so many inducemeuts to industry, repaying it with 
rewards so diversified and so liberal, offering to talent so many and 
so inviting fields for usefulness, finds here an immense population 
grown and growing with unequaled rapidity. A century of national 
existence " loolis down upon us " with its lessons of experience from 
which all are ready and willing to profit, and in this morning of a 
second centennial a united people are resolved that henceforth we 
shall continue one and indivisible. 

It is at such a time as this, so full of instructions from the past, 
of promise and of hope for the future, and in a country like this, 
demanding so fully the energies of talent and industry, and in a 
Government like this, where every representative in Congress is 
charged with a trust in which he may be useful to our own and 
other nations, and among a people whose prosperity and happiness 
demand watchfulness, wisdom, forbearance, and justice in delibera- 
tion and legislation in our national councils, that we are called upon 
to chronicle the decease of our departed friend, the late Hon. 
Edward Y. Parsons, of Kentucky. Truth and justice, even 
more than usage, demand that we perform the sad and solemn duty 
of paying a tribute of respect to the memory of one so gifted by 
nature, so cultured by study, endowed with so many good qualities 
of head and heart, that he shared the respect, the confidence, the 
admiration and love of all who really knew him. 

It belongs more appropriately to the immediate Representatives 
from Kentucky rather than to me to sketch in detail the history 
and leading events in the life of their late colleague in this House, 



20 ADDRESS OF MR. LAWRENCE ON THE 

aud tliis lias been faithfully done. These are full of interest and 
instruction. They are such as to inspire young men with hope, 
and all men who know them with admiration. 

It was my good fortune to make the personal acquaintance of our 
now departed friend at an early day in the present Congress. Even 
before that I knew of his deservedly high rejjutation as a scholar, 
as a la\vyer, as a man of talents, and of the noble and generous 
impulses of his nature. I knew him as one of the leading la\vyers 
of his native State of Kentucky, and of its largest commercial city 
of Louisville, distinguished for his learning, for his eloquence, and 
ability. 

As one of the committee of this House which accompanied his 
remains to their last resting-place in the beautiful city of Louis- 
ville, which constituted a part of his district, I had opportunities 
to know that he shared the entire confidence and respect of the 
people whom he so ably and faithfully represented, and the sincerity 
of their sorrow at the loss they and the public sustained in his 
decease. Not Kentucky alone, but the whole public indeed may 
well feel this bereavement. 

For wise purposes it has been ordained by nature and nature's 
God that men shall be and are endowed with an infinite variety in 
their tastes and capacities. The diversified wants of society make 
this a necessity. Poets and painters, and orators and statesmen, 
and scientists and writei-s of varied styles and orders are in some 
sense " born, not made." There is no superabundance of the most 
useful and laighest order of talent. In this we find the " concord 
of a general plan." 

It was to this high order of talent that Edward Y. Parsons 
belonged. He was an orator by nature, and culture had largely 
enriched the gifts which nature bestowed. His powers in this 



LIFE AND CHAEACTEK OF EDWARD Y. PARSONS. 21 

respect were so highly appreciated by those who knew him best 
that at an early age, while a tutor in the male high school of the 
city of Louisville, the board of school trustees instituted a chair 
of elocution and assigned him to its important duties. This, at 
so early an age, was no small honor in a city distinguished for the 
talent of its citizens and its patronage of the higher branches of 
education. 

It is not very usual for a member of Congress during his first 
session to speak very frequently. Mr. Parsons, though a new 
member, was by no means silent. He spoke when the interests of 
liis constituents or the occasion required, and when he did so bespoke 
to the purpose ably and well. The State of Kentucky, in common 
with others, is deeply interested in the construction of the Texas 
and Pacific railroad. On the 14th of June Mr. Parsons addressed 
the House in support of a bill proposing to aid the construction of 
this road. He argued with marked ability the question of the con- 
stitutional power of Congress to pass the bill, and the expediency 
of the measure. As a specimen of the patriotic sentiment which 
pervaded the entire speech I may quote a single paragraph, in which 
he said: 



If there be any sincerity in the oft-repeated asseverations made upon this floor 
during the present session of Congress tliat the disposition of tlie people is to forget 
past differences, and in tlie practices of friendship and patriotism to perfect the 
Union of tlie States, and if it be true that a general amnesty is desired, it may be 
said that in tlie construction of this road as proposed an important step will be taken 
in the direction of the coTisummation wished. The North, the East, the West, and the 
South will join not only in the profitable embrace of commerce, but in tliat inter- 
course which, familiarizing each with all, strengthens the liond which now unites 
them and verifies the assertion of peace and good-will. From the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, and from the Gulf to the lakes the eflfects of this great highway will be felt 
and its advantages realized. I^o better period can be imagined than the present for the 
encouragement of sentiments of union., and no more fitting monument can be erected to 
mark the complete reconciliation of the sections. 



And as a specimen of that eloquence which seemed to flow with 



22 ADDRESS OF MR. LAWRENCE ON THE 

easy grace and elegant force from his lips I may quote another para- 
graph, in which he said : 

The ancient cities of tlie world have been celebrated for their arts and their arms. 
The fame of their sculpture and their architecture has reached even unto us. Their 
conquests were glorious, the scholars cultured, their poets and orators, who are with 
us to-day, incomparable, and on the pages of history their works are emblazoned. 
They have erected monuments to the energy, industry, grace, love, valor, and enter- 
prise of their respective cities. 

Indebted, as we are, to their brilliant examples in literature and science for what- 
ever of excellence we may have attained, we feel constrained to say that more en- 
during monuments than works of art, statuary, grouping and painting remain for 
us to contemplate. The Appian Way will be remembered when the name of Cato is 
thought of only by the scholar, and the great roads of Rome will prove more lasting 
reminders of the success of her arts than the conquest of Gaul or the fame of Csesar. 
Splendid as were their achievements in arms, material improvements in the terri- 
tory of conquests are better remembered than the battles of warriors, and causeways 
and roads are the enduring monuments to glory. Facilitating commerce, they 
destroy sloth in the mart; promoting intercourse, they abolish differences of opin- 
ion ; and embracing sections, they establish harmony. 

At an earlier day in the session, on the 16th of February, tlie 
House had under consideration a bill to reorganize the judiciary of 
the United States. 

The bill proposed to create new courts of appeal. One of the 
questions presented on an amendment was whether one of these 
courts should be located at Cincinnati or Louisville. 

In a few remarks which I submitted I advocated the location at 
Cincinnati. Mr. Parsons replied with great force and power in 
an able speech in favor of the location at Louisville. Though he 
had no previous opportunity to know this question would arise, he 
met it with a force of logic which left nothing to be added on that 
side of the question and which proved his masterly abihty in de- 
bate. 

But it is unnecessary now to refer to more of his course in Con- 
gress. That is well understood here and by the public. However 
much members here may have diifered in opinion on important 
questions of public policy, no one ever doubted the sincerity and 



LIFE AND CHAEACTEK OF EDWARD Y. PARSONS. 23 

honesty of purpose of Mr. Parsons. He combined in his char- 
acter tliat "suaviter in modo et fortiter in re" which inspired respect 
without giving offense to any. 

The light of a great intellect has gone out. A citizen of Ken- 
tucky and of the United States, distinguished for learning, ability, 
and talents, alike honest and honored in public and private life for 
mental and moral and personal worth, is no more. 

Kentucky mourns his loss and the whole Republic shares alike 
her sorrow and her bereavement, for it is not alone the loss of any 
State, but more even than a loss to all. This must be so, because 
we cannot fail to realize that truth so well announced by Sir Wil- 
liam Jones, that: 

■ — men, high-minded men, 
TTiese constitute a state. 

The universal sentiment of all who knew our now-departed 
friend is that as a husband, a father, as a member of society, as a 
private citizen, in all the relations of life, he was kind, generous, 
just, endowed with every noble quality which rendered him worthy 
to be endeared to all. 

And then the resolutions were agreed to, and the House accord- 
ingly adjourned. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 



Saturday, July 8, 1876. 

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. G. M. 
Adams, its Clerk, communicated to tlie Senate the intelligence of 
the death of Mr. Edward Y. Parsons, late a member of the 
House from the State of Kentucky, and transmitted the resolutions 
of the House thereon. 

Mr. McCREERY. Mr. President, I ask for the reading of the 
resolutions of the House of Representatives. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair will lay before the 
Senate the resolutions referred to. 

The Chief Clerk read as follows : 

congkess of the united states, 

In the House of Representatives, 

Jvly 8, 1876. 
Mr. Knott submitted the following, which was agreed to: 
Resolved, That a committee of seven members be appointed by the Speaker of the 
House to talie order for superintending the funeral of Hon. Edward Y. Parsons, 
late a member of this body from the State of Kentucky. 

Resolved, That as a mark of the respect entertained by the House for the mem- 
ory of Hon. Edward Y. Parsons, his remains be removed to Louisville, Kentucky, 
in charge of the Sergcantrat-Arms, and attended by the said committee, who shall 
liavo full power to carry this resolution into effect. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these proceedings to the Senate. 
Resolved, That as an additional mark of respect to the memory of the deceased 
tlio House do now adjourn. 

Mr. McCREERY. I offer the following resolutions : 

Resolved, That the Senate has received with deep sensibility the announcement 
of the death of Hon. E. Y. Parsons, late a member of the House of Representatives 
from the State of Kentucky. 

Resolved, That as an additional mark of respect for the memory of the deceased 
the .Senate do now adjourn. 

The resolutions were agreed to unanimously, and the Senate 
adjourned. 



26 PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE ON THE 



August 1, 1S7G. 

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. G. M. 
Adams, its Clerk, communicated to the Senate a copy of the pro- 
ceedings this day had in the House in reference to the death of 
Hon. Edward Y. Parsons, late a member from the State of 
Kentucky. 

Mr. McCEEERY called for the reading of the proceedings of 
the House of Representatives. 

The Chief Clerk read as follows : 

In the Congress of the United States, 

In the House of Representatives, 

August 1, 1876. 
Resolved, That this House has heard with deep regret of the death of Hon. Ed- 
ward Y. Parsons, late a member of this House from the State of Kentucky. 

Resolved, That as a testimony of respect to his memory the officers and members 
of this body will wear the usual badge of mourning for the space of thirty days. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted by the Clerk of this 
House to the family of the deceased. 

Resolved, That the Clerk be directed to communicate a copy of these proceedings 
to the Senate, and that as a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased 
this House do now adjourn. 

Mr. McCREERY. My friend and colleague of the House of 
Representatives, Hon. Edward Young Parsons, is no more. He 
has been cut off in the flower of his youth and in the strength of 
his manhood. He entered political life at the opening of this ses- 
sion of Congress, and before its close his mortal remains have been 
consigned to the grave. He inherited the stalwart form, the easy 
grace, and the commanding talents of his father, whose fame as an 
actor and as a pulpit orator is still fresh and green in the memories 
of the American people. If the son had been spared, his gentle- 
ness, his culture, and his genius would have placed the name on a 
foundation more solid and enduring. In person, in acquirement, 
and in mental endowment he stood far above ordinary men, and. 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF EDWARD Y. PARSONS. 27 

take him all in all, we are not likely soon to " look upon his like 
again." But he is gone! The devoted husband, the fond father, 
the steadfast friend, and the able and incorruptible public servant 
sleeps with his fathers. We will forget his faults and remember 
his many virtues. 

Mr. STEVENSON. Mr. President, the sad event announced 
so feelingly to the Senate by my colleague admonishes us that death 
comes to the young as to the old. Edavard Young Parsons was 
among the youngest members of the House. He took his seat for 
the first time at the beginning of the present session. Gifted in in- 
tellect, of high culture, and possessed of varied information, he 
gave promise and great hope of brilliant distinction ; but death has 
set its seal upon all these bright hopes. Young as he is, he sleeps 
in a new-made grave. 

I beg leave, sir, to offer the follomng resolutions : 

Resolved, That the Senate has received with sincere sorrow the announcement 
of the death of Hon. Edward Young Paksons, late a member of the House of Rep- 
resentatives from the State of Kentuclty. 

Resolved, That from a sincere respect for the memory of the deceased the mem- 
bers of the Senate will wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect for the memory of the deceased the 
Senate do now adjourn. 

The resolutions were agreed to unanimously, and the Senate 
adjourned. 



(" # 



cmortam. 



[AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO THE LATE DON. E. Y. PARSONS.] 



Stricken by fate's unyielding grasp. 
Severed from love's detaining clasp, 

Summoned in life's bright noon; 
Thus was our dear one called away, 
Scorched by the summer's fervid ray- 
Crushed by its fell simoon. 

Ne'er gathered the Reaper fruit more fair. 
Never the shadow of dark despair 

Fell on a deeper woe: 
Gone from his task but half complete. 
Gone from caresses kind and sweet 

Into death's arms of snow. 

Gone from his country's august claim, 
Where he, from the lofty dome of fame. 

Hung like a briglit pole star; 
Swift as a sunbeam snatched away 
By a sudden cloud, when an April day 

Broods in the heavens afar. 

Forth with a spirit to do and dare. 
Manly and noble— a foe to fear— 

Into earth's strife he came; 
Reached for a chaplet glory-lined. 
Till o'er his brow it brightly twined 

Decked with the bays of fame. 

Out of that eye's effulgent beam, 
Lit with the mind's immortal gleam, 

Looked a beneficent soul ; 
One that with joy could promptly thrill, 
Weep with the sad when fate's cold chill 

Bade the grief-torrent roll. 



30 IN MEMOEIAM. 



Cold is the hand once raised in power, 
When In the wild, exciting hour 

He pleaded his client's calls; 
Silent the voice whose clarion song 
Held in its spell the breathless throng 

Crowded In Judgment halls. 

Beyond the realms of celestial blue. 
Where thy spirit, so brave and true. 

Doth in its purity dwell- 
Say, is the essence which guards thee nlgli. 
Impervious to the anguished sigh 

Which shatters our heart's deep cell? 

God knows; to our plea he will grant reply 
When gathered in realms beyond the sky 

We study immortal lore; 
Then shall be taken from sorrow's knell, 
And from this cruel, last farewell, 

The sting forevermore. 

Mrs. H. B. Parsons. 
Louisville, July 12, 1876. 



